The Labterra, Center for Studies and Research on Regional Earth Architecture, has been active since November 1997 at DICAAR – Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering in Cagliari, established on the initiative of Prof. Eng. Antonello Sanna (UNICA). Today its coordination is entrusted to Arch. Maddalena Achenza. The Labterra has been a key player in the major information and awareness initiatives on earth architecture organized in Sardinia since the early 1990s. The Center works in coordination with other research programs concerning traditional and vernacular architecture, with particular focus on construction techniques and natural and sustainable materials. The Labterra collaborates with public administrations on issues of restoration and territorial planning, and with companies in the construction sector.
The Center also maintains close contacts abroad with organizations and institutions that have developed more intensive research and laboratory activities in recent years, including CRATerre in France, ESG in Vila Nova de Cerveira in Portugal, UPV in Valencia in Spain, and structured exchanges of experience with the Faculties of Udine, Florence, Palermo, Naples, the Polytechnics of Milan and Turin, with ICCROM in Rome, ICOMOS, the Getty Conservation Institute and UNESCO.
Since 2009, it has carried out teaching and outreach activities within the Unitwin-UNESCO Chair “Earth Architecture. Building Cultures and Sustainable Development”.
